I was offered $25,000 per year from Penn. I don't know what NYU is going to offer me, but I expect them to offer me *some* money. I also expect to be able to avoid taking out loans since my family can front me the money (though we're not *rich,* so COA is still very much an important factor).

After I graduate, I want to work in Big Law, most likely in NYC. My long-term hope is to focus on defending civil liberties as a practicing attorney, and ideally as a public intellectual as well.

I *like* Penn more. I like that it has a campus. I suspect it would be relatively car-friendly (is that true??). But, most of all, I'm very nervous about the political atmosphere at NYU. I went to an extremely liberal college, and ended up with a pretty socially-debilitating reputation on campus as some kind of evil kook. I don't want to get into the politics too deeply here, but, basically, I'm very critical of the far left, especially when it comes to feminism and environmentalism. The only thing NYU really has going for it is that it's near my brother and parents.

So, I guess one way to ask it is: What's the minimum amount of money that NYU could offer me to make you think I should go there? Any input about differences in the two schools' ideological climates would also be much appreciated.

Your concern was about NYU, but I'll just go ahead and confirm Penn certainly isn't super liberal. The faculty might even lean conservative. At the very least, Penn has plenty of conservative/libertarian scholars. The Federalist Society is one of the more popular campus organizations, and its members are very well represented (disproportionately so) in the leadership of school's journals.

Bottom line: If you have a problem fitting in at Penn, it won't be because you're a conservative.

I was offered $25,000 per year from Penn. I don't know what NYU is going to offer me, but I expect them to offer me *some* money. I also expect to be able to avoid taking out loans since my family can front me the money (though we're not *rich,* so COA is still very much an important factor).

After I graduate, I want to work in Big Law, most likely in NYC. My long-term hope is to focus on defending civil liberties as a practicing attorney, and ideally as a public intellectual as well.

I *like* Penn more. I like that it has a campus. I suspect it would be relatively car-friendly (is that true??). But, most of all, I'm very nervous about the political atmosphere at NYU. I went to an extremely liberal college, and ended up with a pretty socially-debilitating reputation on campus as some kind of evil kook. I don't want to get into the politics too deeply here, but, basically, I'm very critical of the far left, especially when it comes to feminism and environmentalism. The only thing NYU really has going for it is that it's near my brother and parents.

So, I guess one way to ask it is: What's the minimum amount of money that NYU could offer me to make you think I should go there? Any input about differences in the two schools' ideological climates would also be much appreciated.

Thanks.

Any public intellectual worth his salt could do better than a 169 on the LSAT.

Also Philly is marginally more car friendly than NYU, but that isn't saying much and its certainly not a car friendly city.

Also, consider that its not your views that get you in trouble, but how closed minded you might be towards others views. I have a crazy libertarian friend who's quite well liked because he's willing to sit and listen and discuss alternatives with an open mind. There's a difference between being conservative, and hating liberals. The fact that you chose to express your views in terms of how much you hate the other side might explain why people think you're an "evil kook".

I was offered $25,000 per year from Penn. I don't know what NYU is going to offer me, but I expect them to offer me *some* money. I also expect to be able to avoid taking out loans since my family can front me the money (though we're not *rich,* so COA is still very much an important factor).

After I graduate, I want to work in Big Law, most likely in NYC. My long-term hope is to focus on defending civil liberties as a practicing attorney, and ideally as a public intellectual as well.

I *like* Penn more. I like that it has a campus. I suspect it would be relatively car-friendly (is that true??). But, most of all, I'm very nervous about the political atmosphere at NYU. I went to an extremely liberal college, and ended up with a pretty socially-debilitating reputation on campus as some kind of evil kook. I don't want to get into the politics too deeply here, but, basically, I'm very critical of the far left, especially when it comes to feminism and environmentalism. The only thing NYU really has going for it is that it's near my brother and parents.

So, I guess one way to ask it is: What's the minimum amount of money that NYU could offer me to make you think I should go there? Any input about differences in the two schools' ideological climates would also be much appreciated.

Thanks.

Any public intellectual worth his salt could do better than a 169 on the LSAT.

What is a public intellectual? Like a TV political pundit? You don't have to have a score greater than 150 to be a Fox News pundit

float55 wrote:After I graduate, I want to work in Big Law, most likely in NYC. My long-term hope is to focus on defending civil liberties as a practicing attorney, and ideally as a public intellectual as well.

Exit options into public intellectualism are much better for NYU grads.

float55 wrote:My long-term hope is to focus on defending civil liberties as a practicing attorney, and ideally as a public intellectual as well.

I *like* Penn more. I like that it has a campus. I suspect it would be relatively car-friendly (is that true??). But, most of all, I'm very nervous about the political atmosphere at NYU. I went to an extremely liberal college, and ended up with a pretty socially-debilitating reputation on campus as some kind of evil kook. I don't want to get into the politics too deeply here, but, basically, I'm very critical of the far left, especially when it comes to feminism and environmentalism. The only thing NYU really has going for it is that it's near my brother and parents.

So, I guess one way to ask it is: What's the minimum amount of money that NYU could offer me to make you think I should go there? Any input about differences in the two schools' ideological climates would also be much appreciated.

Two things (though I'm a fellow 0L, so all the usual disclaimers apply). "Defending civil liberties" sounds to me like PI, so just going off of what I remember from employment numbers, I would think NYU would be the far stronger option. Of course, either would get you NY BigLaw.

Other thing, like others have said - you're not going to be socially crippled because of your beliefs, you're going to be socially crippled if you're an ass about other peoples' beliefs. You shouldn't be making a massive investment (or at least, spending a massive amount of your parents' money) on a kneejerk decision made because of perceived leanings in either political direction.

2L at NYU here. Yes, NYU is liberal, but we have an active FedSoc and there's the Journal of Law & Liberty which is one of the few libertarian/conservative journals in the country. I wouldn't pick Penn over NYU over the political leanings of some of your classmates. However, Penn with $$ over NYU with nothing is a different story.

When selecting where to go among the top law schools at least, politics are a terrible way to make the decision. Every top school (like the legal profession at large) leans left, some more so than others, but there is a right-leaning contingent everywhere. Most people, regardless of political persuasion, are there to learn the law, not argue politics. So long as you aren't too quarrelsome, you'll be fine.